Editing Peabody, Kansas (section)

===19th century===
In 1801 to 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France, keeping title to about 7,500 square miles. In 1803, most of the land for [[History of Kansas|modern day Kansas]] was acquired by the United States from France as part of the 828,000 square mile [[Louisiana Purchase]].

In 1854, the [[Kansas Territory]] was organized under the provisions of the [[Kansas–Nebraska Act]], then in 1861 [[Kansas]] became the 34th [[U.S. state]]. In 1855, [[Marion County, Kansas|Marion County]] was established, which included the land for modern day Peabody.<ref name="Marion-Co-History">[http://www.marioncoks.net/AboutMarionCounty/History/tabid/7634/Default.aspx The History of Marion County and Courthouse]</ref>{{refn|group=book|name=hsk}}

In 1864, the first [[settler]] in the Peabody area was W.C. Coble, from [[North Carolina]], who set up [[ranch]] headquarters about 2+ miles east of the current city of Peabody (now section 36 of [[Catlin Township, Marion County, Kansas|Catlin Township]]).<ref name="PeabodyBook">''Peabody : The First 100 Years''; Peabody Historical Society; Peabody Gazette-Herald in Peabody, KS; 123 pages; 1971.</ref> The first settlement made in the area was in September 1870, by a colony of settlers from [[Wisconsin]]. In October, more settlers arrived. During the first month, the colony officers laid out a town on the north-half of section 4 township 22 and surveyed it into lots. The town was named '''Coneburg''' after the town company president John Cone. The town site was located between the current 9th Street and Division Avenue. During the winter of 1870, some of the settlers returned east to get supplies and bring out their families. In 1871, while the other settlers were gone, dissatisfaction arose in the community and it began to break up. [[Land claim|Claim jumping]] of the Coneburg town site and nearby land started to occur, thus causing a legal mess.{{refn|group=book|name=hsk}}

In 1870, T.M. Potter [[Homestead Act|homesteaded]] the south-half of the same section of land. In spring of 1871, he and five other men started the '''Peabody''' town company. Since the land title for the Peabody town site had no legal disputes, businesses immediately moved from Coneburg.{{refn|group=book|name=hsk}} In June 1871, the town of Peabody was platted, and it included the land where the railroad was built on June 9.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20030514165934/http://kancoll.org/books/cutler/eraop/era-of-peace-p2.html#ATCHISON_TOPEKA_SANTA_FE_RAILROAD AT&SF Railroad History in Kansas]</ref>

A post office was established in Coneburg on January 25, 1871 then moved to Peabody on October 30, 1871.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/county:MN |title=Kansas Post Offices, 1828-1961 (archived) |publisher=Kansas Historical Society |access-date=14 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009130856/http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/county%3AMN |archive-date=October 9, 2013 }}</ref>

In April 1872 during legal disputes, Coneburg became '''North Peabody'''. A revised [[plat]] of Peabody was made in July 1875 and a supplemental [[plat]] of North Peabody was made in April 1878. Because of the disputes, the street that ran down the middle of the border between the two towns was called "Division Avenue." The two towns merged into the city of Peabody in 1879.{{refn|group=book|name=hsk}}

The town of Peabody was named in 1871 after F.H. Peabody, of [[Boston]], formerly vice-president of the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] company.<ref group="book" name="kcsh" />{{refn|group=book|name=atsf}} In May 1874, Mr. Peabody visited the new town, at which time he announced he would donate money for a [[library]] building, furniture, books, periodicals and landscaping if the Peabody [[Township#United States|township]] would secure four town lots for the site. The contract for construction was awarded in spring of 1875 and was opened to the public in June 1875, and the following February 1876 the state legislature authorized the township to levy a tax to support the library. The structure housed the library facilities until 1914 when a new [[Carnegie Library (Peabody, Kansas)|Peabody Township Carnegie Library]] was constructed on the old location.{{refn|group=book|name=hsk}}<ref name="OldLibrary"/>

[[File:Stouffer's Railroad Map of Kansas 1915-1918 Marion County.png|thumb|left|1915 Railroad Map of [[Marion County, Kansas|Marion County]]]]
In 1871, the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] extended a main line from [[Emporia, Kansas|Emporia]] through Peabody to [[Newton, Kansas|Newton]].<ref name="Santa Fe Rail History">[http://kansasheritage.org/research/rr/santafe.html Santa Fe Rail History]</ref> In 1996 it merged with [[Burlington Northern Railroad]] and renamed to the current [[BNSF Railway]]. Most locals still refer to this railroad as the "Santa Fe". The first depot was built south of the tracks. Later a [[train wreck]] destroyed it and a second depot was built on the north side of the tracks.<ref name="PeabodyBook"/> In 1873, three westbound trains (9:05{{nbsp}}am, 1:00{{nbsp}}pm, 8:30{{nbsp}}pm) and three eastbound trains (4:42{{nbsp}}am, 6:50{{nbsp}}pm, 8:30{{nbsp}}pm) stopped at the Peabody depot.<ref>[http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/212489 Santa Fe Train Time Table For 1873]</ref> Rail service was still very strong five decades later. In 1925, three westbound and four eastbound trains made stops at Peabody.<ref name="PeabodyBook"/> The second depot was demolished in the 1970s after [[passenger transportation]] ended, then its land was converted into the Santa Fe Park, which is located at the south end of Walnut Street. Currently [[Amtrak]]'s ''[[Southwest Chief]]'' passenger train currently passes through Peabody twice each day, but stops at nearby [[Newton, Kansas|Newton]].

During most of the 1870s, the railway depots in Peabody and [[Florence, Kansas|Florence]] were the only access points for train passengers into [[Marion County, Kansas|Marion County]] and northern [[Butler County, Kansas|Butler County]]. Peabody was a destination for numerous foreign [[Homestead Act|homesteaders]], including the [[Mennonite]] settlers around [[Goessel, Kansas|Goessel]] and [[Gnadenau, Kansas|Gnadenau]].<ref>[http://www.kshs.org/p/kansas-historical-quarterly-settlement-of-the-krimmer-mennonite-brethren/12990 Settlement of the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren; Alberta Pantle; ''Kansas Historical Quarterly''; February 1945 (Vol 13, No 5); pages 259 to 285.]</ref><ref name="Gazette-19740801-1"/>

In 1887, the [[Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway]] built the "Rock Island" branch line north–south from [[Herington, Kansas|Herington]] through Peabody and [[Wichita, Kansas|Wichita]] to [[Caldwell, Kansas|Caldwell]].<ref name="Rock Island Rail History">{{cite web |title=Rock Island Rail History |url=http://home.covad.net/~scicoatnsew/rihist4.htm |website=Rock Island's Family Tree |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723055808/http://home.covad.net/~scicoatnsew/rihist4.htm |archive-date=July 23, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Rock Island Railway Route opens on September 18, 1887 |url=http://peabody.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?fn=the_peabody_gazette_usa_kansas_peabody_18870915_english_4 |publisher=[[Peabody Gazette-Bulletin|The Peabody Gazette]] |date=September 15, 1887}}</ref> By 1893, this branch line was incrementally built to [[Fort Worth, Texas]]. It foreclosed in 1891 and was taken over by [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway]], which shut down in 1980 and reorganized as [[Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Railroad]]. The company merged in 1988 with [[Missouri Pacific Railroad]] finally merging in 1997 with [[Union Pacific Railroad]]. Most locals still refer to this railroad as the "Rock Island". Its depot in Peabody was demolished in the early 1960s.<ref name="PeabodyBook"/><ref>[http://www.rits.org/www/structures/depots/Matrow/PeabodyKS.jpeg Photo of Peabody Rock Island Depot; 1963.]</ref>

In 1875, Peabody held its first agricultural "county fair" and continued to hold them annually for many years.<ref>[http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/212618 Poster from Seventh Annual Agriculture Fair At Peabody From September 28-30, 1881]</ref> In September 1885, the [[Kansas State Fair]] was held at Peabody during the first four days of the month. An outstanding feature of the state fair was "the First Monument to [[Ulysses S. Grant|General Grant]]", who died shortly before the fair. The temporary monument was an [[obelisk]] about {{convert|40|ft|m}} tall, and built from forty [[bushels]] of ears of corn. The fair had a [[grandstand]], which could hold 2000 people, to view horse races. The race track was used for a variety of events, including horse walking teams in harness, [[trotting]], running, pacing, mule racing, and daily [[chariot races]]. A dining hall was built that was capable of feeding 10,000 people each day. In 1900, the Marion County Agricultural Society sold the fair grounds to the city, which renamed it the [[Peabody City Park]], and its entrance is located at the corner of Locust and 2nd Streets.<ref name="PeabodyBook"/><ref name="NRHP-PeabodyPark"/>

Peabody was the home of famous [[race horses]] around the turn of the century. Three of the more famous horses were world champions.  [[Joe Young (horse)|Joe Young]] (known as the "iron horse") sold for $10,000 by C.E. Westbrook, the first horse west of the [[Mississippi River]] to sell for such a high price. Joe Young sired [[Joe Patchen]] in 1889,<ref>[https://www.harnessmuseum.com/content/joe-patchen Joe Patchen; Harness Racing Museum and Hall Of Fame.]</ref> who earned his owner $40,000 in race purses and then was sold for $44,000. Joe Patchen sired [[Dan Patch]] in 1896, a horse that sold in 1907 for $60,000. Other famous local racing horses included trotters McKinney, and Silver Sign. Silverthorne toured [[Austria]] where he competed for three years against the best race horses in [[Europe]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/marion/library/misc/westbrok.txt |title=C.E. Westbrook - Bio |access-date=2010-12-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014112616/http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/marion/library/misc/westbrok.txt |archive-date=2012-10-14 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://www.davidrumsey.com/maps830045-23565.html Drawing of Trotting Stallion Joe Young; 1887.]</ref>